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Friday, 29 January 2016

Review - 'Legends of Tomorrow', S01E02 - 'Pilot, Part 2'

The
main issue I had with the first episode of Legends of
Tomorrow is that, while it was
definitely a fun start to the series, it felt increasingly messy by
the end. It just felt as though there was simply too much ground that
needed to be covered, and that the creator's of the series had made a
serious mistake in trying to cover it all over such a short period of
time. The end result was an episode which, while still perfectly
entertaining, simply wasn't the resounding success that I was hoping
for from this series.

Thankfully, though,
it turns out that there was one clear positive to the first episode's
efforts to cover so much ground, after all - that being that, with so
much of the necessary scene-setting already out of the way, this
second half of this two-part pilot is free to get straight to the
action. In the previous episode, we had the newly formed team trying
to come to terms with the necessity of working together was they
attempted to uncover some much needed information about Vandal Savage
- here, meanwhile, we have the team trying to put that information to
good use, as they make their first move against their immortal foe.

Right from the
start, this episode had a clear sense of focus that the previous one
seemed to lack - with the team, still in the 1970s, now finding
themselves in Norway as they plan on infiltrating an illegal arms
deal that they have reason to believe Vandal Savage will be
attending. Of course, despite the best efforts of both Leonard Snart
and Professor Stein to play the part of arms dealers (resulting in
highly entertaining performances from both Wentworth Miller and
Victor Garber), things don't quite go according to plan. First, it
turned out that Vandal Savage wasn't there as a buyer, but was the
one selling weapons - meaning that he was much too public a presence
for the team to attempt to snatch, as they had planned. Then, there
was the fact that Savage could sense the presence of Hawkman and
Hawkgirl, thanks to the mystical connection he shares with each of
them. And, finally, there was the simple fact that Stein's continued
efforts to play the part he had taken on ultimately only seemed to
confirm the growing suspicions of both Vandal Savage and Damian Darhk
who, it turns out, was also there as a buyer - looking much the same
in the 1970s as he does in the present day (as a side-not, this quick
cameo from Damian Darhk was a great touch - something which, while
obviously not important to the story being told in Legends of
Tomorrow, does serve as an effective reminder of exactly how
formidable a foe Darhk is for Oliver Queen on this season of Arrow).

The result of all
of this was a truly fantastic action sequence, which fully show-cased
the widely varied skills and abilities of each member of the team.
Not only was it a well-shot and well-choreographed action sequence,
but it was also a highly entertaining moment - something which would
have served as a suitable end to an episode of any regular show. But,
of course, this doesn't quite go the team's way either as, despite
their best efforts, Vandal Savage was still able to escape - and, a
broken off piece of Ray Palmer's highly advanced suit fell into the
wrong hands.

Later, the team
returned to their ship only to learn that, as a result of this single
mistake, the future is suddenly in danger of being significantly
altered. Unless they are able to recover that missing piece of Ray's
suit soon, Vandal Savage will be able to reverse-engineer new weapons
of his own from this future technology which will significantly
advance his long-term plans to conquer the world.

It's clearly a
desperate situation, made more complicated when it turns out that the
only person who can help is Professor Stein's younger self - who just
so happens to have been researching the same particles which power
Ray's suit, and who has developed a device that can help them track
down the missing piece. It's a fairly contrived coincidence, sure -
but, it leads to some genuinely entertaining moments as Professor
Stein suddenly finds himself caught up in a Back to the Future
situation as he tries to deal with his younger self, without
revealing anything that could alter his own future. Also, having Sara
and Jax only serves to make these scenes more entertaining, as Sara
ends up flirting with Stein's younger self while Jax simply enjoys
the increasing awkwardness of the situation.

Captain Cold, Heat
Wave, and the ATOM, meanwhile, are sent on a mission to steal a
dagger which could potentially be used to finally kill Vandal Savage
- the same dagger, it turns out, that Savage used to kill Hawkman and
Hawkgirl in their original incarnations, so long ago. This mystical
connection which binds the three of them is probably the one element
of the series that I have struggled to accept - and, this newly
introduced idea that Vandal Savage can only be killed by a certain
dagger wielded by a certain person really isn't helping. It's not the
magical element, in itself, that bothers me (it's strange to see
elements of science fiction and fantasy blended together so overtly
in a single series, sure - but, the comics from which the series
draws its inspiration have always been this way) - instead, it's the
simple fact that it all just seems so poorly explained. With all the
time spent setting up the cast of Legends of Tomorrow on its
parent shows, it feels as though more time still needed to be spent
revealing the exact nature of the relationship between the trio who
seem to be at the centre of the entire conflict - and, establishing
the rules of whatever strange magical force it is that binds them
together.. As things stand, there is a frustrating sense of the
writer's simply making it up as they go along, here - which might not
actually be the case, of course, but that's just how it is starting
to feel, to me.

Of course, all of
that aside, the mission to steal this conveniently placed dagger
still provided the audience with some great character moments between
Leonard Snart, Ray Palmer, and Mick Rory. Pairing up two professional
thieves with the show's most enthusiastic 'super-hero' was always
going to be a great source of humour - but, it also led to some
surprising moments of character development for Leonard Snart and Ray
Palmer, in particular.

As played by Casper
Crump, Vandal Savage still might not come across as being as
charistmatic or as intimidating as some of the best villains that
have appeared on Arrow or The Flash - but, he continues
to display a calm certainty in himself and his own abilities which
gives him a more understated sort of menace. So, while I might have
enjoyed some more overt scenery-chewing from the show's primary
villain, he is still proving effective enough.

Overall, this was a
fantastic episode of Legends of Tomorrow - one that was able
to make the most of the momentum established by the season's first
episode as it threw us right into the action. Much like with the
previous episode, it was those moments of interaction between the
show's wildly varied cast of characters that served as the primary
high-light - though, here, the episode also benefited from some
fantastic action sequences which provided a similar show-case for
their wildly varied abilities. If the season's first episode didn't
quite convince you that Legends of Tomorrow
is worth your time, then this one definitely should have.